Portable rail-hacksaw



W. C. REINHAR DT AND 0. H. BANKER. PORTABLE RAIL HACKSAW.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

W. C. REINHARDT AND 0. H. BANKER.

PORTABLE RAIL HACKSAW.

APPLLCATION FILED SEPT-2, 1919.

1,336,443, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

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H w I n Q man Zwvm b W.E-REiI'lhE1I"lft W ELI-LE1 ankar CWVM UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM G. REINHARDT AND OSCAR H. BANKER, 0F RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS TO RACINE TOOL & MACHINE 00., 0F RACINE, WISCONSIN.

PORTABLE RAIL-HACKSAW.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Application filed September 2, 1919. Serial No. 321,135.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that We, \VILLIAM C. REIN- HARDT and OSCAR H. BANKER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Racine, in the county of Racine and State of isconsin, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Portable Rail-Hacksaws; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to power hacksaws, particularly those of the portable type which may readily be moved from place to place and easily set up.

It isan important object of this invention to provide a machine of this character which can be used for the sawing of railway rails, the various parts of the mechanism being so assembled that the machine may be secured in position and the work out in a minimum space of time and much more quickly than it would be possible for the same work to be performed manually.

In. cutting rails, particularly those used in electric street railway work, it is usually necessary to remove a considerable portion of the ballast forming the road-bed and located on both sides of the rails. lVith the present type of machine, however, it is not necessary to remove any greater quantity of this ballast than is required in manual sawing operations.

A further object is to provide the machine with adjustable bracing means for holding the same against shifting and thus eliminate the possibility of breaking the saws during the reciprocation thereof.

IVith these and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed and shown in the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a portable haoksaw machine constructed in accordance with our invention and mounted upon portions of a pair of rails.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational View of the parts shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevational view of the supporting means used at one end of the machine and mounted upon a rail which is shown in section.

The machine illustrated is primarily adapted for use in the repairing of electric car tracks, and is therefore driven by a suitable electric motor E. In other classes of work, however, where it is not readily possible to procure electricity, other sources of power, such as an internal combustion engine, may be used, the machine being changed slightly to oermit the attachment of the other forms 0 driving means. Also other changes may be made in the machine, for instance in the form and proportion of the several parts and in the manner of securing the same upon the articles to be operated on.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 denotes a crosstie having a pair ofrails 2 secured thereto, said rails being spaced a considerable distance apart and ballasted on each side by concrete or crushed-stone material as shown at 3. The machine is disposed transversely of the rails and the saw 1 thereof is designed to cut through the head and adjacent parts of one of the rails 2. As indicated in Fig. 3 portions of the ballast 3 are dug away on each side of the rail a sufficient distance to permit the saw to reciprocate. Although in the present embodiment of the invention the saw 4: is adapted only to cut through the ball or head of the rail, it is to be understood that it is within the contemplation of the invention to provide an arrangement whereby the rail may be out completely through.

The saw 4: is preferably of the drawcut type and the mechanism for reciprocating it and retaining it out of engagement with the work on its non-cutting stroke is substantially similar to that shown in United States Patent No. 927,751, issued to Charles Rasmussen. This mechanism or any other which may be efliciently used is mounted upon a base plate 5, the same having a pair of spaced supporting feet 6 which depend downwardly as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and are provided with substantially U-shaped yokes 7 for straddling; the heads of the rails *2. Each of the yokes 7 has its outer arm provided with a threaded bear ing sleeve 8 in which is disposed a clamping screw 9. From Fig. 4 it will be seen that the inner ends of the screws 9 engage beneath the rail-heads and are moved into or out of this position by the rotation of hand wheels or the like 10 formed on their outer ends.

The opposite end of the plate 5 terminates slightly beyond the center of the road-bed and hasa vertically adjustable support consisting of a ground-engaging foot 11 and an adjusting screw 12. As a result of this, after securing the feet 6 to one of the rails 2, the plate 5 may be leveled by raising or lowering the inner end thereof through the instrumentality of the screw 12. V I

Inasmuch as the saw 4 reciprocates longitudinally of the plate 5 and transversely of the rails 2, there is a liability of considerable vibration and strain'not only on the saw 4, but also on the plate 5. Therefore the latter is braced in the direction of its length by means of a brace bar 13, one end of which has a rail-engaging shoe 14, while the other end is slidable in a socket 15. formed on the inner end portion of the plate 5. This socket 15 includes a pair of clamping ears whereby the extension-rod 13 may be secured in adjusted positions to compensate for-slight variations in the width of the track. The shoe 14 at the opposite end of thebar 13 consists merely of a depending shouldered member for engagement with the inner and top portions of the head of the rail 2, this rail being remote from the rail which is being operated upon by the saw.

The hereinbefore mentioned-electric motor is mounted upon the inner end portion of the plate 5 and is connected with the main drive axle 16 of the saw reciprocating means by a worm and worm gear 17 and 18 respectively. The saw 4 is reciprocated longitudinally of the plate 5 adjacent the end thereof to which the feet 6 are attached.

The operation of the inventionis clearly discernible from the drawings and the preceding description, butit may be set out briefly as follows: After the ballast has been dug away from the portion of the rail adjacent the point where the cut is to be made, the plate 5 carrying the saw reciproeating mechanism and the saw is placed on the rail to be cut and the ballast in such a manner thatthe saw 4 will be directly over the point where the cut is to be made. After the yokes 7 have seated themselves on the head of the rail, the screws 9 may be tightened to engage beneath the rail-heads. After the support 11 has been adjusted to substantially level the plate 5, the brace-bar 13 has one end inserted in the socket 15 and the other end engaged with the rail upon which it is not necessary at this time to operate. The socket 15 has the ears thereof moved together to clamp the inner end of the rod 13 to said plate 5. The machine having been properly clamped and braced to the rails, the saw 4 may be lowered onto the work and the electric motor E or other driving means started to procure the necessary action of the saw. Removal of the machine from its place of work may be even more readily accomplished than the placing thereof in position as there is no necessity for the adjustment of parts. After the head of the rail has been'sawed through, the rest may be out by an ordinary hand-saw or in any other preferred manner.

We claim: 1

1. A portable machine of the class described including a base plate having operating mechanism mounted thereon, means at one end of the plate for securing the same adjacent the object to be operated upon,

means forsupporting the other end of the plate, and-means for bracing the plate in one direction.

2. A portable machine of the class described adapted to span'a pair of rails or the like and including a base plate having rail operating mechanism thereon, means at one end of the plate for securing the same adjacent the rail to be operated upon, the other end of the plate being spaced from the other rail, and an extension brace member connecting said other end of the' plate to the last mentioned rail.

3. A portable machine of the class described adapted to span a pair of rails or the like and including a base plate having rail operating mechanism thereon, means at one end of the plate for securing the same adjacent the rail to be operated upon, the other end of the plate being spaced from the other rail, adjustable supporting means for the last named end of the plate, and an extension brace member connecting said other end of the plate and the last mentioned rail.

4. A portable machine of the class described adapted to span a pair of rails or the like and including a base plate having rail operating mechanism thereon, a depending clamping foot atone end of said plate to adjustably secure the same to a rail, adjustable ground engaging supporting means at the opposite end of the plate, and an extension brace member connecting the last mentioned end of the plate and the adjacent rail. 1

5. A portable machine of the class described adapted to span a pair of rails or the like and including a base plate having saw-operating mechanism thereon, a saw reciprocable longitudinally of the base plate by said mechanism, means for securing one end of the base plate to the rail to be operated upon by said saw, supporting means for the other end of the plate, and a longitudinally extending brace bar connecting the last mentioned end of the plate and the adjacent rail, whereby to brace the plate longitudinally and secure the same between the pair of rails.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing We have hereunto set our hands at Racine, in the county of Racine, and State of Wisconsin.

\VM. C. REINHARDT. O. H. BANKER. 

